THRILLER • SUPERNATURAL

SIX - LIGHT IT UP

Getting to her feet, Grace made her way to her Dad. "Yeah, it does." She agreed.

The young girl pivoted in her sturdy boots to watch as her Uncle came towards where they had gathered. "Hey." He called out and then Haley too stood up. "So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I, for one, want to kill this evil son of a bitch."

Both Dean and Grace grinned at Sam's new enthusiasm; it appeared he had listened to what his brother had said. "Well, Hell, you know I'm in." Dean announced lively.

Grace's hand shot up into the air and she declared. "I'm in too!" A content smile made its way onto Sam's lips at her words and then Dean reached out and took her hand in his.

They all watched as Sam withdrew John Winchester's journal from his pocket and showed the page on Wendigos to Haley and Ben who stared at the paper with intrigue. "'Wendigo' is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours'." Sam started to explain.

"They're hundreds of years old." Dean cut in. "Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, or other times a frontiersman or a miner or a hunted." He listed off as he bent over to retrieve a couple of items from the ground. Grace watched as he did so and it didn't take her long to realise why he was doing it.

Haley then asked warily. "How's a man turn into one of these things?"

Now, it was Grace who spoke up. She let go of her Dad's hand to fiddle with her flannel shirt nervously. "It's not good." Admitted the girl with a sigh. Then she placed her gaze on the people in front of her, trying to hide her fear. "Someone who's all alone and cut off from the world soon becomes really hungry and then..." Grace took a deep breath. "They eat people, usually other members of their camp or tribe, in order to keep going."

"Like the Donner Party." Ben pointed out.

Sam nodded at the boy who was just a few years younger than himself. "Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality."

"If you eat enough of it, over the years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry."

Their words did nothing to comfort Haley and Ben who were holding onto each other in fear. She gulped nervously before asking, concern evident in her voice. "So if that's all true, how can Tommy still be alive."

Dean grimaced before turning to Grace and Sam, looking to them for answers before he ended up saying. "You're not gonna like it." He warned her.

"Tell me." Haley insisted. It was easy enough to see how frightened she really was behind the strong and fierce facade she had placed up around herself. Grace admired her bravery, her strength, and her determination to find her missing brother. To her, the world of the supernatural was new and terrifying, but she was willing to enter it to find Tommy.

With a burdened sigh, Dean said. "More than anything, a Wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants." Haley and Ben's faces contorted with horror. "If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there." He informed them.

The Collins siblings looked like they were about to crack. They just found out that their brother may or may not be alive and if he was, his life was being toyed with by an evil creature that wanted to eat him alive. It was enough to make anyone fall to the ground and sob until their eyes ran dry. Grace, sensing their fear, turned to the pair. "I'm sure your brother's okay, and if he's still out there, we'll find him and bring him back to you." And that was a Gracie promise.